News in brief

09 March 2004 à 12:06

The latest at the French box office: January-February 2004

French films are back in the spotlight. Thanks to the triumphant performance of "Podium", "Les 11 Commandements" and "The Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse," French films once again captured 35% of the local box office at the end of February.

As of the end of the month of February, French films' 17% share of their home market registered at the end of January was now history: with 35% of the market under their belt, homegrown productions have bounced back to reach a level on par with recent years. Indeed, since the start of 2004, close to 10 million moviegoers have opted for a French film.

Among productions responsible for this spectacular recovery, two comedies stand out in particular, starting with "Podium," debut film by Yann Moix, adapted from his book of the same title. Bolstered by the fine performance of its leading actor Benoît Poelvoorde ("Dead Weight," "Les Randonneurs," "Ghislan Lambert's Bicycle," "Doors of Glory "and "Man Bites Dog: It Happened in Your Neighborhood," among others), this film that recounts the exploits of an impersonator of French pop idol Claude François crossed the 2 million admissions mark in its second week. And showing good staying power since then, the film, produced by Fidélité Productions (producers of François Ozon films) and sold internationally by Exception - Wild Bunch, has by no means finished its impressive run.

In another vein altogether, the comedian Michaël Youn is still drawing the crowds. After his film "La Beuze," which drew 2 million spectators barely a year ago, "Les 11 Commandements" has struck an ever better note, with the film, also directed by François Desagnat and Thomas Sorriaux, pulling in 2.2 million spectators after only three weeks in theaters. Produced by Abel Nahmias for Pathé Renn and sold by Pathé International, this latest opus starring Michaël Youn has lost no time in familiarizing French audiences with the "Jackass" phenomenon.

Another comedy, "RRRrrr !!!," written by and starring the Robin des Bois comic troupe was produced and directed by Alain Chabat. Sold by StudioCanal, this prehistoric comedy loaded with Stone Age humor has attracted close to 1.7 million moviegoers in one month.

In the thriller genre, "The Crimson Rivers 2 : Angels of the Apocalypse" has also made a splash, with over 900,000 admissions registered in its opening week (with international sales handled by StudioCanal and EuropaCorp for Asian territories). Directed by Olivier Dahan and starring Jean Reno and Benoît Magimel, with a screenplay by Luc Besson, the film follows the trail blazed by its predecessor, which had also attracted close to 1 million spectators in its opening week, to finish its run at 3.2 million admissions. A new success story for its producer Alain Goldman (Légende), who is already busy planning a third film in the series.

Vincent Cassel, who also featured in the credits of the first film, is currently lighting up French screens in "Blueberry" by Jan Kounen, which has registered 600,000 admissions in two weeks (UGC International).

Among the other French films released since January or at the very end of 2003, we can mention "Après vous" by Pierre Salvadori, which is coming close to the million admissions mark (Wild Bunch), as well as "La Prophétie des grenouilles" ("Raining Cats and Frogs"), an animated feature film by Jacques-Rémi Girerd, which has attracted close to 800,000 spectators in 10 weeks on the screens (StudioCanal), "Les Ripoux 3 - Part-Time Cops" (close to 800,000 admissions, Gaumont), the latest opus by Alain Resnais, "Pas sur la bouche" (600,000 admissions, Pathé International), "Nathalie" by Anne Fontaine (500,000 admissions, StudioCanal) and, in a more specialized category, "L’Esquive" by Abel Kéchiche (Films Distribution), which has broken the 200,000 admissions barrier thanks to excellent word of mouth.